Bean Keeps them Laughing Opening Night; Galanter Gives Tribute Poem

Orson Bean captured his packed audience opening night the minute he walked on the set and kept them laughing to the end. He thumbed thru the highlights of his life in an overall comedic fashion even though some of the sketches were tragic events, such as his dog, his mother, and her suicide. The last part of his monologue was of meeting and proposing to his wife, Alley Mills.

The night was a fast 75 minutes of delightful laughter. One left feeling grateful this man had cared enough to share those precious moments. The play is from his memoir of the same name, “Safe at Home.”

Opening night coincided with 30th anniversary of the Pacific Resident Theatre on Venice Blvd, formerly a market and before that a nickelodeon, according to Alley. The Theatre is Alley and Orson’s baby that they brought to fruition. The humble couple graciously thanked former Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who was in the audience, for helping with the permits and making that process so much easier. They credited her with helping keep the arts alive in Venice. Then, Orson said, after we got back to Venice and were celebrating getting the permits, the toilet inspector knocked at the door.

Ruth Galanter told the couple that she no longer could issue a certificate for them so she wrote a poem in their honor. She read the poem. Ruth kindly has allowed the poem, a tribute to Alley and Orson, to be printed in the Update.

The night was special. I feel I watched a once-in-a-lifetime special. Words do not describe it. It was “ethereal?” Then former councilwoman Ruth Galanter with her Bean banter and the poem just added the touch to the painting of the Beans’ portrait of caring, humility, and gratitude expressed in Venice.

Thanks Reta for the glowing review. The evening was a joy in every way, including the tears. The Bean family is a Venice treasure. To everyone who has not seen the show, run don’t walk to a performance at PRT, another Venice treasure.

Recent Comments

Craig { Great shot Rick You always seem to get it right Way to go } – 1302 8:45 PM

Bruce { Reta, thanks for the link - I listened to the entire segment. Mark Ryavec presented a very balanced argument as to why the Permanent Supportive Housing initiative would be a bad deal for residents. He seemed to be supportive of limited use of motels as transitional homeless housing. I have... } – 1302 6:47 PM

Rick Swinger { Thats very "Good News" Will Hawkins and Thank You and Your VNC Homeless Committee for that! The neighbors on the frontline all around 3rd and now Hampton Dr. are in desperate need of some type of relieve from all this pollution, safety and health problem we have been having here... } – 1202 10:19 AM

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Rick Swinger { As for the potable showers being moved to the parking lot I have heard this from two different sources.One who works for Park and Recreation so maybe someone should talk to Mr. Bonin office. I can never get a response from them.3rd St has an uncontrolled dumping problem from public... } – 1202 7:25 AM

Rick Swinger { My bad. I first reported that at 630am of Feb 6 after seeing these bathrooms being use at 530am in the morning and talking to a homeless guy who was using them. Seeing that the City had approved of these bathrooms 24/7 on Jan 27th reported here on Venice Update... } – 1202 7:11 AM

Roger of Venice { Will, I agree 100%. I also have to add, that the Air B&B'S are adding to the housing crisis as well. I really think you would agree that we have to address this crisis as well. } – 1102 8:29 AM

Will { 70% of all Homeless suffer from some form of physical, psychological or mental disability. Hard to hold down a job and care for yourself when you're disabled in any way. City officials need to stop pretending that this is just a housing issue and address the def I envied in... } – 1102 7:04 AM

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Resident { The reason why nothing was getting done was because Okulick sued them. I agree that they could be a lot more transparent, but the people against the BID have done everything to try to undermine it, Okulick is one of the biggest offender. } – 0602 1:46 PM